Today was a milestone for me!!!

[alpinerabbit]

Yay Berlin Girl!

Hills. The common enemy of the cyclist.

You will get there.

[teawoman]

Woohoo! I don't think I've even seen a 2.5 mile hill...

[Kano]

Hills can be sneaky, Teawoman!

Sometimes, they don't look like a hill, and sometimes, the land around you makes you think you should be going down, but your legs know you're working too hard for that...

And yes, they can be long and keep on going, and going, and going, and going... When I find one of those, I sure celebrate at the top when I surprise myself by keeping going on them!

The most evil hills are the ones like when I ride my bike to work: I go up, then it's flat, then I go up, then it's flat, then I go up, then it's flat, then you go up and it's flat -- no reward! It's about a seven mile ride -- they call 'em benches here.

Karen in Boise

[indigoiis]

Hills can be sneaky, Teawoman!

Sometimes, they don't look like a hill, and sometimes, the land around you makes you think you should be going down, but your legs know you're working too hard for that...

And yes, they can be long and keep on going, and going, and going, and going... When I find one of those, I sure celebrate at the top when I surprise myself by keeping going on them!

The most evil hills are the ones like when I ride my bike to work: I go up, then it's flat, then I go up, then it's flat, then I go up, then it's flat, then you go up and it's flat -- no reward! It's about a seven mile ride -- they call 'em benches here.

Karen in Boise

I know of the "ghost hills" of which you speak.

They are legendary around here.

You don't know they are there until you are on them.

Look down... do I have a flat??? Nope. Maybe it's that time of month? Nope. Maybe I suddenly contracted lyme disease? Nope. Is this road going ever so slightly upwards??? Ah yes!!!

[sundial]

Oooh, I just did a devil of a hill this past weekend. I don't know how steep it was, but it reminded me of going up on a roller coaster ride. I had just come down a steep hill and was pedaling like a mad woman to get up that blasted hill when......I accidentally geared up to the highest gear--front and rear. Dumb! Dumb! I almost came to a halt and had to jump off my bike to run up the hill. In the meantime, there are cars whizzing right by me on a road that has no shoulder. Geez! The things we do!

[Livin the Dream]

Great news about conquering the hill! What a great confidence booster!

One of my goals for this year is to ride up a VERY hated hill on John Bryan Park Road near Yellow Springs, Ohio. The last time I rode -- make that walked -- up that hill with my bike I was grumbling at DH all the way up.

[teigyr]

That is fantastic! I know the feeling and once you've done it, you know you can do it again. Yay!!!

I swear at them as I climb them, I found it intimidates them a bit and makes them behave.

[teawoman]

Look down... do I have a flat??? Nope. Maybe it's that time of month? Nope. Maybe I suddenly contracted lyme disease? Nope. Is this road going ever so slightly upwards??? Ah yes!!!

LOL!! I soooo know that feeling! Some kind of evil headwind I somehow can't feel?

[indigoiis]

LOL!! I soooo know that feeling! Some kind of evil headwind I somehow can't feel?

Oh and have you ever done this? I have stem end shifters. The other day at mile fifteen I was going up a ghost hill, and I looked at the right shifter and it was all the way up, meaning, I was on the easiest of gears.

I forgot to look at the left though. I was on the biggest ring!

There I was slugging away, thinking, "That's it, I've lost it. I suck."

When I got to the top (and with ghost hills, where exactly IS the top? [insert twilight zone theme here]) I looked at the left shifter and was like, well DUH!!!

[RoadRaven]

Although it sucks as you go up a hill like this feeling like you are performing badly, I really love looking down and realising that I went up in the big chain ring!

You muscled your way up - congrats Indi!

Next time you know you can do a few higher gears in you small chain ring!

[Starfish]

Hills. The common enemy of the cyclist.

Aaaahhh...or the common friend, Grasshopper!